Suicidal pilot was cleared by Qantas
Qantas cleared international pilot Paul Whyte to fly 1 month before police believe he deliberately crashed his light aircraft into the ocean off northern NSW. Whyte passed a mental health check in February even though he had been struggling to deal with a marriage breakdown for nearly a year. Qantas confirmed Whyte had flown Boeing 747 aircraft on the Brisbane to Los Angeles route as a first officer in the weeks before his death Monday. Revelations Whyte was cleared for duty have raised questions from mental health experts about the quality and frequency of checks. A Qantas spokesman said all pilots had annual health checks which involved "a number of physical and psychological tests". The tests rely heavily on pilots themselves reporting any "significant" change in their health to obtain a medical certificate. <br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2016-03-25/oneworld/suicidal-pilot-was-cleared-by-qantas
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Suicidal pilot was cleared by Qantas
Qantas cleared international pilot Paul Whyte to fly 1 month before police believe he deliberately crashed his light aircraft into the ocean off northern NSW. Whyte passed a mental health check in February even though he had been struggling to deal with a marriage breakdown for nearly a year. Qantas confirmed Whyte had flown Boeing 747 aircraft on the Brisbane to Los Angeles route as a first officer in the weeks before his death Monday. Revelations Whyte was cleared for duty have raised questions from mental health experts about the quality and frequency of checks. A Qantas spokesman said all pilots had annual health checks which involved "a number of physical and psychological tests". The tests rely heavily on pilots themselves reporting any "significant" change in their health to obtain a medical certificate. <br/>
